A new Illinois state law will finally address the ages old question of just who gets rover in the divorce.  For a long time, pets have either been considered property or the fate of the family animals have been decided privately and outside of courts.  Although there have been isolated cases of the court being involved in the decision of where to home the beloved pets, there hasn't been much coherence in the matter until now.

Fox2now.com is reporting that the new law will allow the court to exercise "statutory authority to designate sole or joint ownership between the parties or a sharing arrangement," in much the same way custody of children is decided.  The judge will consider who has been the most responsible for the pet in regards to taking care of the animal, taking them to the vet, etc.  Once again, just like children's custody in a divorce, the judge will only make decision about the fate of pets adopted or bought during the marriage.  Pets that were there before the relationship will remain in the custody of their original owner.  In my opinion, this needs to be in effect across the US.  People love their pets so much, they need to be treated with more respect than the couch.  They are closer to people than property.

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